New Year Book Display Ideas

 

I have never liked "New Year, New You" book displays. Self improvement does not need to have an implicit or explicit aura of self-hatred. Save the diet books and exercise videos for another day. 

Instead, focus on showing patrons how they can "____ something new." They can learn something new, eat something new, make something new! It's a way to showcase some of your non-fiction collection that needs more exposure as well as helping them find something new to focus on. I have some pictures here that showcase a few of the displays I have done in the past. 

Think broadly and involve staff from all over your library. Don't forget to include materials from your audiobook and DVD collections. You can even include images and handouts from your ebook collections or databases. 

This idea would also work for youth services book displays. There is a gap in-between the holidays and the start of school. You could encourage some learning and crafting from kids who otherwise might be getting a little stir crazy. 
It would also serve patrons who don't celebrate those particular winter holidays. 

More ideas can be found in this list of New Year's Resolutions. Steal the heading of the list and customize the titles to fit what you have in your collection. Check your inbox for ideas from publishers this year. 

NPR's article has a great book display idea. Just switch it up a bit - "Find Joy with a New Hobby." Then shift to other ways that your patrons could find joy. This is another way to frame the same idea. 

If you want to showcase some fiction, encourage your patrons to "Meet Someone New" by setting up a display with under loved series fiction. Another angle of this is to search out that translated fiction that might not get enough attention. Don't forget to double check your display for diverse characters and authors. 

Finally, I often have included a "Visit Somewhere New" display with travel and travel narratives. Since we don't know when that will happen again, add fiction with a focus on place to those travel narratives. One option is Akashic Press' Noir Series. 

Other options include: 

Ten Books Where the Setting is a Character/Crime Reads

9 Young Adult Books Where the Settings Are Characters/Bustle 

Top 10 World Building Fantasy Novels/Chicago Public Library 

8 Speculative Fiction Authors Whose Books Are a Lesson in Worldbuilding/Barnes and Noble

What are you going to do for your January book displays? 

Podcasts as inspiration - True Crime Bulls**t

The popularity of true crime podcasts makes them a great source of inspiration for your book displays. Pick a few or more and pair them with books or movies with similar themes, subjects, or tones. Because book displays are passive readers advisory, we don't have the conversations with patrons that we would normally have to learn what they loved about the podcasts. By broadly interpreting what a read alike is, there is a better chance of catching what it is they love. 

I'll pick one podcast to use as an example. True Crime Bullshit  is hosted by Josh Hallmark on the Our Americana Network. TCBS is a serialized investigation into the life and crimes of serial killer Israel Keyes. (Of it's four seasons, three have focused on Keyes. The third season told the story of another serial killer.) Hallmark is a compelling narrator who focuses on telling a story about people: Keyes, his victims, and his friends and family. The story can seem intimate and personal at times. The listener feels as if they are following Hallmark on his journey and joining him in obsession about the case, possible, victims, and new clues. 

To get a sense of the podcast, as well as a similar one about a missing college student, Maura Murray, check out "Serial killers, brutal murder and the rise of the podcast detectives" by Clémence Michallon, The Independent,  12.13.20

Similar titles I would put on a book display:
I'll Be Gone in the Dark: One Woman's Obsessive Search for the Golden State Killer by Michelle McNamara.
The late author takes her readers on her search for a then-unknown murderer and rapist who terrorised Californians for ten years. It's a mix of memoir and reporting that mirrors TCBS in a lot of ways. Both authors take pains to remember the victims lost, telling their stories, while still bringing their audience along as they dive deeper and deeper into a case. 
More: "Michelle McNamara hunted, and was haunted by, the Golden State Killer" by Alexandra Alter, The New York Times,  2.15.18

In Cold Blood by Truman Capote is the classic of the genre. His story switches between the victims, their friends and neighbors, and the murderers. Capote is an additional character in his story. 

More: "In Cold Blood, half a century on" by Ed Pilkington, The Guardian, 11.15.2009

My Dark Places: an L.A. Crime Memoir by James Ellroy is the novelist's telling of his own mother's unsolved murder, how it impacted his life, as well as his consuming search for her killer. While he investigates the case with a retired detective, Ellroy learns more about his secretive mother and her life. 
More: "Murder close to the heart" by Evan Roth, The Washington Post, 5.23.1995

A different sort of book with a similar deep dive into one case with a compelling narrative, and a sense of the very human tragedy in a murder would be Say Nothing: a True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland by Patrick Radden Keefe. This book uses the abduction and murder of a single mother to tell the tragedy of the conflict in Northern Ireland. The stories of individual members of the IRA including Gerry Adams and the murdered woman, Jean McConville, and her family drive a compelling tale of political murder and those left behind. 

More: "How Conflicts End—And Who Can End Them" by David A. Graham, The Atlantic, 3.3.2019

The most recent book written about Israel Keyes specifically is American Predator: The Hunt for the Most Meticulous Serial Killer of the 21st Century by Maureen Callahan. Fans of TCBS have been critical of the book but your patrons could be interested. 

You can fill in the display with titles about serial killers like Ted Bundy as well as novels with a similar theme and tone to the books listed above. While I don't know your collection, some ideas can be found in these lists: 

100 MUST READ BOOKS ABOUT SERIAL KILLERS/Book Riot

Sarah Nicolas, May 25, 2017

TOP TEN SERIAL KILLER NOVELS/The Strand Magazine
Elizabeth Heiter, January 4, 2016

The Best True Crime Books About Serial Killers/Novel Suspects
Greta Shull

Books to Read if you Loved The Witcher

Suggestions for what to read while you wait for those holds on the Witcher books or are done binging the series. Dark fantasies or books with similar main characters are what you should look for. Search for "read likes for..." when you want to put up a display based upon whatever the most popular show on the streaming services is. 

The Shoes Made the Book

Someone else at my library put up this display. The idea is cute - books with shoes on the cover or in the title.These sort of themes help people stumble on back list titles they may have missed. It can be tricky to fill in if you don't have ideas when you set it up. There are clearly tons of ways you could change this to suit your library's collection.

Add non-fiction if you need to and grab some history of fashion or fashion books. I would even put books from health about podiatry in it!

He Went to the Library

Another librarian put together this book display with library themed romances. Be as broad as possible when setting up this sort of display. If a book has a librarian in it or library scene, it is enough. Romance is a genre rich with tropes so you can assemble a display that fits your collection or those titles that need some patron attention. 
Alter the text on the sign and a quick and easy cozy mystery display could be put up with the same theme. 

Books from the Bottom Shelf

As I have said before, faceouts are magical. These are simply a variety of titles that need a circulation boost. I have put up this display with a sign that simply had a sleepy puppy on it. Just being in front of your patrons' eyes can help them get the sort of attention they need. 

When Things Go Wrong Book Display

When Things Go Wrong book display with titles about disasters including some local/state titles. I borrowed this idea from ALA's Booklist. They have lists that are great jumping off points. This display could include fiction from any and all genres including horror, suspense, and thrillers.